Overview
- The Defaulted Loans Support Center went live on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, as the first public phase of a phased transfer of defaulted loan operations from the Education Department to the Treasury.
- The portal replaces paper forms with online applications that let borrowers apply for rehabilitation or consolidation, upload documents, sign agreements, and make payments directly.
- Agencies said they beta-tested the system with about 15,000 borrowers and that more than 5,000 people made an online payment during testing, which officials cited as an early sign the portal can boost return-to-repayment activity.
- Involuntary collections such as wage garnishment and seizure of federal benefits remain paused, the administration has not set a date to resume them, and Treasury is seeking private vendors to help with collections.
- The move comes as about 9.3 million borrowers were in default at the end of June on a roughly $1.7 trillion federal student-loan portfolio, and lawmakers and former officials continue to question Treasury's capacity to run large-scale collections while Education keeps statutory policy responsibilities.